


The First Word

by LibbyWeasley



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, FitzSimmons fluff, Kissing, Making Up, Not a lot of talking, Season 2, Season 2 Fixed, what should have happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 06:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14994458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibbyWeasley/pseuds/LibbyWeasley
Summary: What if Fitz never had a chance to tell Jemma he couldn’t work with her?  This is the story of what could have happened if Jemma had spoken first (mid-season 2).





	The First Word

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t take the scene where Fitz tells Jemma he can work for her, just not with her, so I’m fixing it. You’re welcome.
> 
> I'd like to give a huge thank you to blancasplayground, who was there to help me and beta read when my love for FitzSimmons overpowered my ability to write in the correct tense and also for being generally amazing!

As she refocused her attention back on the sample she was supposed to be analyzing for what felt like the hundredth time, Jemma Simmons was forced to admit, at least to herself, that she was distracted...and frustrated. The source of her distraction and frustration was currently working across the lab from her, his blue eyes focused intently on the computer in front of him where he was running scenarios for Coulson. Ever since Fitz’s confession at the bottom of the ocean (or near confession, since he never actually said the words), she had been dissecting their relationship and trying to wrap her mind around what it would be like to be “more than friends” with Fitz. He had been her best friend, her rock. They had made it through the Academy, Sci-Ops, and even the field together, but it had been their feelings for each other that had put a crack in that solid foundation.

Because even after all of that she had been truthful when Bobbi had cornered her, prying into her feelings about Fitz. She hadn’t ever thought of Fitz as anything but her friend, her _best_ friend. But now that she knew how he felt, she couldn’t stop thinking about it, about him, about how precious their time together was.

But none of that was any help to her now, since Fitz had studiously ignored her presence ever since she returned from her undercover assignment. Even that knowledge didn’t keep her normally logical and ordered mind from wandering and imagining the possibilities.

“Focus, Jemma,” she admonished herself, and attempted to push her attention back to the task at hand once again.

\-----------------------

Fitz glanced up as he heard Jemma giving herself a pep talk across the room. Even though he didn’t say anything, he _was_ worried about her. She looked tired and sad, and now she was talking to herself. Just like his thoughts had been jumbled for the last several months, his feelings for Jemma were also jumbled. Their past, present, and possible futures merged together in his mind and it caused too much pain to dwell on it. So he pushed it away.

But seeing her so vulnerable made him want to bridge the chasm between them, even if it is just to be friends again. Steeling himself, he opened his mouth, unsure of what he could say in this moment.

“Hey Turbo,” Mack’s voice startled him out of his thoughts and Fitz clamped his mouth shut, realizing he’d been staring across the room at Jemma like a bloody idiot.

“H-hi Mack,” he stuttered, as he turned to face his friend. Mack had a questioning look on his face, but didn’t comment.

“Coulson needs you and Simmons with us. Grab your stuff. We are heading out in ten.”

Mack swept one last uneasy glance from Fitz to Jemma and then ducked out of the room.

Fitz checked the status of his program and started to head for the door when he noticed that Jemma hadn’t budged. 

“Sim-Simmons, time to go,” he called out, as he made to follow Mack. 

Assuming she’d be behind him, Fitz didn’t notice her absence until he reached the hallway, and then backtracked to see what was keeping her. But when he looked back into the lab, she was staring at his laptop with a look on her face that he couldn’t decipher. It was just another reminder of what he had lost. There was a time when he thought he knew her as well as he knew himself, better even -- every emotion, every expression. But that was gone too.

“Simmons,” he called, slightly louder this time.

“Simmons...JEMMA!” He knew he sounded irritated, or maybe terrified, and he was -- irritated and hurt, and so much more than that -- but whatever she heard in his voice snapped her out of her trance and she slowly lifted her eyes to his. What he saw when he finally looked at her, and really saw her -- _his Jemma_ \-- for the first time in what felt like months, would have broken his heart if it hadn’t already been shattered into a million pieces.

“Jemma, I…,” Fitz started to say at the same moment that Jemma said his name.

A brief pause settled between them. _Before_ this kind of silence had felt natural, but now it just made the tension palpable.

Fitz started again, “Jemma, I am going to move out of the lab.” 

There. He finally got the words out that would change the direction of their relationship. 

But Jemma didn’t seem to hear him because she was saying, “No, Fitz, let me say something first.”

He wanted to argue with her, because it felt familiar, and also because directing his frustration at her through his anger was preferable to relying on other emotions at this point. But in the time he had taken to draw breath and start again she had plowed forward.

“I miss you Fitz.” The words were soft, but when he looked up he could see the determination in her eyes.

“I want us to be friends again,” she said more loudly, after getting no response from him.

“Jemma,” he groaned, bringing up one hand to rub his forehead, “I don’t think I can be friends with you. Not like before.”

\-------------------------

She was losing him, Jemma thought as she started the close the distance between them. It was too late and he wasn’t listening, so she did the only thing left and kissed him. 

As first kisses go, it wasn’t very romantic or even terribly coordinated, but it was driven by the full force of her need, longing, and curiosity. For months now, she had wondered what it would feel like to press her lips to Fitz’s. In her mind he had always kissed her back as she melted into his arms, a clear sign that this was the correct path forward for their relationship that was now in utter ruins.

The reality of this kiss, however, was that it was over much too soon. She had pressed her lips against his, but without a response from Fitz, she pulled away before taking it any further, fearing she had done the wrong thing with him once again. But before she could apologize, or just run from the room, she felt Fitz cup her cheeks with his hands and draw her nearer, returning his lips to hers.

This time their lips moved in sync, and Jemma felt herself pulled closer into his warmth as his hands moved from her face down to her hips. She moved to grip his shoulders tightly, as if afraid he would disappear if she didn’t anchor him to this spot.

Time seemed to stop in this moment and Jemma felt herself reduced to the feel of Fitz’s thumbs rubbing across the skin where her shirt had ridden up, his warm, soft lips moving against hers, and the utter peace she felt in his embrace. The loss of their closeness, though never actually this close before, had robbed her of something she couldn’t name, and being here with him now felt like coming home.

When they pulled apart, Fitz dropped his forehead to rest against hers and she was hit with the full force of his blue eyes, piercing and questioning. Jemma didn’t know what to say, couldn’t even think really, but Fitz made no move to pull away. She hoped he understood her actions, even if neither of them seemed to have the words they needed.

“Jemma…,” he breathed. The way he said her name sent tingles down her spine and heat through her body. Really, how had they come to this moment? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Fitz pulled back from her and brought up one had to rub at the back of his neck as footsteps echoed outside the lab, breaking the spell they had been under.

“Turbo, what’s keeping you?” Mack’s voice, full of concern, boomed. He flashed accusing eyes at Jemma before fully taking in the tableau of Fitz and Jemma standing so close, neither meeting his eye.

Mack’s expression softened a little as he said in a gentler voice, “Coulson’s waiting for you two and he is impatient to check out this 0-8-4. You should hurry up before he sends May to come get you.”

Without any further comment Mack left them alone once more.

Alone once more, Fitz took a step back and picked up his case where it lay forgotten on the floor.

“I guess we should go. I don’t want to have to explain this to May,” he said.

“Explain what?” Jemma said tentatively, unsure of the answer herself.

“I’m not sure,” Fitz said with a small smile curving up the corners of his mouth, “but we are very good at figuring things out together.” Then he walked into the hallway to catch up with Mack.

Jemma grabbed her things and followed him out of the lab, feeling a little lighter, a little more confused, and a little more hopeful than she had felt in a long time. If there was anyone she wanted to figure this out with, it was Fitz.


End file.
